The Aéro-Club de France issued Aviators Certificates from 1 January 1910 on. These were internationally recognised under the authority of the Fédération Aéronautique Internationale.

Following a suggestion by Georges Besançon, the secretary of the Ae.C.F., the first eight French aviator's licences were awarded retrospectively dated on 7 January 1909 to Louis Blériot, Leon Delagrange, Robert Esnault-Pelterie, Henry Farman, Alberto Santos-Dumont, Captain Ferdinand Ferber and Orville and Wilbur Wright. These aviation pioneers had amply demonstrated their abilities and they were therefore not required to pass a test in order to receive a licence. Further licences were awarded on 17 August to Hubert Latham and Louis Paulhan, on 16 September to Paul Tissandier, on 7 October 1909 to Jean Gobron, Charles de Lambert and Glenn Curtiss, and on 18 November to Maurice Farman and Henri Rougier.

The first sixteen licences were retrospectively numbered in alphabetical order, with Blériot receiving licence No. 1 and Wilbur Wright receiving No. 15 (No. 13 was not awarded, and numbers 5 and 10 were duplicated)

List Legend

+ Aéro-Club de France certificates awarded in 1909 (nos. 1–17)No. Name Date Country of origin(if not France) Comment1Bleriot, Louis First pilot to cross the English Channel in a heavier-than-air aircraft; d. 1 August 1936.2Curtiss, Glenn USAHolder of Aero Club of America certificate no. 1; d. 23 July 1930 in Florida.3 Delagrange, Léon d. in accident 4 January 1910 at Croix-d’Hins, nr. Bordeaux.Lam, Dave, p.104Esnault-Pelterie, Robert Inventor, aircraft designer, rocket propulsion theorist, founder of R.E.P.; d. 6 December 1957.5Farman, Henry UKAnglo-French aviation pioneer and entrepreneur; adopted French nationality 1937; d. 17 July 1958.5 bis Ferber, Ferdinand (Captain) d. in accident 22 September 1909 at Boulogne sur Mer (France).

Certificate awarded posthumously as a sign of respect, hence the unusual numbering.Lam, Dave, p.136Farman, Maurice UKAnglo-French aviation pioneer and entrepreneur; d. 25 February 1964 at Paris.7Gobron, Jean d. 26 July 1945 in a road accident.Champagne|Berceau De L'Aviation Du Monde...Jean Gobron Retrieved 4 May 20168Lambert, Comte Charles de RussiaRussian pilot of French origins; d. 26 February 1944.9Latham, Hubert d. in hunting accident in Africa 7 June 1912.10Paulhan, Louis d. 10 February 1963.10 bisTissandier, Paul Son of famous balloonist Gaston Tissandier. d. 11 March 1945.

Originally planned to be number 13, changed to 10-b out of superstition.11Rougier, Henri d. July 1956.12Santos-Dumont, Alberto BrazilBalloonist, airship pioneer and designer: made the first flight verified by the Aéro-Club de France of a powered heavier-than-air machine in Europe. 14Wright, Orville USAUS aviation pioneer; d. in Dayton, Ohio, 30 January 1948, aged 76.15Wright, Wilbur USAUS aviation pioneer; d. 30 May 1912 of typhoid fever at Dayton (USA).16Bunau-Varilla, Etienne Son of Philippe-Jean Bunau-Varilla; patented first recumbent bicycle (1912) d. 12 December 1961.Champagne|Berceau De L'Aviation Du Monde...Etienne Bunau-Varilla Retrieved 4 May 2016 17Leblanc, Alfred Organised logistics for Louis Blériot's cross-channel flight, later chief instructor at Blériot flying school. d. 22 November 1921.

See also Early Birds of Aviation Lists for other years 1910 1911 1912 1913 1914

Notes

References

Bibliography Eighty-Six Certified Flight PilotsFlight,28 May 1910 p. 408.